Tuesday, January 26, 2010

National Broadband Plan - WISPA Gets Involved

March 17th is the deadline for the FCC to deliver what is being called a "national broadband plan" to congress. Following the Recovery Act in 2009, funding (and awareness over the need) was made available for ramping up broadband infrastructure in the U.S. as part of an overall plan to bolster our economy and remain competitive nationally. By the urging of this blog and countless other activists in the broadband community, the FCC has received no shortage of input on the broadband plan.

Last Friday, another big player joined the mix. The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) filed it's comments with the FCC. What did they have to say? According to their own report to WISPA members and constituents, their focus involved 6 major points:

Many rural communities do not yet have access to broadband (24 million households).
Without access to broadband, the best and brightest young people usually leave for bigger cities causing a “rural brain drain” that negatively affects rural economies.
WISPs who want to extend service to unserved and underserved rural communities need both better access to funding and better access to spectrum.
WISPA suggests several methods of improving WISP funding mechanisms, including the creation of a “Universal Broadband Fund”.
WISPA also suggests several methods of improving access to clean spectrum for WISPs. The availability of clean spectrum positions WISPs to benefit from more favorable funding options.
The FCC’s support and promotion of WISPA’s suggestions in the National Broadband Plan (including this filing) will help revitalize America’s economy.

Not surprisingly, the focus remains on rural broadband access as well as continued talk over the spectrums available to wireless broadband. Whatever the outcome, the most important matter, however, is that the FCC receives enough support and public outcry to make sure that on March 17th, congress indeed sees the great need for change. You can provide your own feedback at www.broadband.gov.

Labels: Broadband Plan, FCC, Fixed Wireless Broadband, Rural Broadband, WISPA